Command Center for Recovery Operations in El Callao

A command center has been established to coordinate the recovery operations of the fourteen bodies, led by Brigadier General Gregory Gonzalez Acevedo, head of the operational areas for damage assessment. The agency stated in a post on its Instagram account that the deaths occurred in three different shafts of the ‘Quatro Esquinas de Caratal’ mine, located in the town of El Callao, about 850 kilometers (528 miles) southeast of Caracas. The statement added that search and rescue operations began by draining all the wells in the area to lower the water level, and then assessing rescue efforts for those trapped inside the gold mine, without providing further details. Firefighters in El Callao reported on social media that the death toll is based on testimonies from other miners, with floods causing the collapse of vertical mines, known as valleys. El Callao is a city whose life depends on gold mining, with most of its 30,000 inhabitants involved directly or indirectly in mining.